Download Status Of Sponge Iron Units In Orissa - Vasundhara

STATUS OF SPONGE IRON UNITS IN ORISSAINTRODUCTIONSteel market in India is in a rising phase as infrastructure development has been rightly given highpriority. The secondary sector of steel production has witnessed phenomenal growth in recent years.The steel production through the secondary sectors, which works only 21.39% in 1993-94, has goneup to 35.46% in the year 2001-02. The reasons are:1. Low investment2. Ability to produce quality steel economically through this process3. Availability of Sponge Iron both in quality and quantity, which is a major raw material forsecondary steel makers.In the secondary sector, the steel production is mainly by EAF and induction furnace. Inductionfurnace route is gaining importance due to low investment cost and ability to produce quality steelat lower cost. A number of induction furnace units have been established with varied productioncapacity. With the increasing demand of sponge iron as the major raw material for the secondarysteel makers, there is mushrooming growth of sponge iron units in the country, particularly in theeastern side. All of them have opted for coal based plants having rotary kilns.The process of sponge iron making aims to remove oxygen from iron ore. When that occurs, thedeparting oxygen causes micro pores in the ore body making it porous. The final product, whenobserved under a microscope, resembles a honey comb structure, looking spongy in texture, hence,the name “Sponge Iron”RAW MATERIALS REQUIREDSponge Iron manufacture is highly sensitive to raw material characteristics. Therefore, it is essentialto examine the chemical and physical characteristics of raw materials, both individually and incombination. The basic raw materials for the production of Sponge Iron are iron ore, non-cokingcoal, and dolomite.Coal: Important factors determining coal quality are:1. Chemical properties such as fixed carbon, ash-content, volatile material, etc.2. Physical properties such as reactivity, and ash-fusion temperature.